A PhD position is available in the Technology Platform for Hydraulic Machines at EPFL, Switzerland. Since 1969, PTMH (ptmh.epfl.ch) is a centre of scientific excellence in research and development of hydraulic machines, specializing in performance validation, hydrodynamics, cavitation, hydro-acoustics, and advanced measurement techniques. This PhD position is framed within a collaborative project JUMP with Andritz Hydro in Vevey and granted by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).
To support the ambitions of Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050, future Pelton turbine development must simultaneously address three major challenges: increasing power output, improving energy conversion efficiency, and enhancing resistance to hydro-abrasive erosion caused by sediment-laden flows. These objectives are inherently competing and become especially critical when upgrading existing hydropower facilities.
The proposed PhD project aims to advance the fundamental understanding of the complex multiphase flow phenomena occurring in the cutout region of Pelton turbine buckets, where high-velocity water jets initiate the hydraulic-to-mechanical energy conversion process. This region is exposed to extreme flow conditions and is particularly vulnerable to cavitation and sediment-induced erosion.
Through controlled laboratory experiments on a reduced-scale Pelton runner model, the project will investigate jet impingement, flow separation, multiphase interactions, erosion-related geometry modifications, and the conditions leading to the onset of the Coandă effect. The results are expected to provide new insights for the design of future Pelton runners that are more efficient, more robust, and capable of supporting the ongoing energy transition.
